Good Morning,
It is Friday, the 13th of February. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Those who live in this area, join us this evening at 7 p.m. on cable channel 4. It has been great blessing to share the Good News Of our Lord over the airways since 1993.
Some of you have inquired about the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, in 2010. A few have already signed up for the trip. The tentative departure date is July 13, 2010. We have brochures available for anyone who is interested. I will be sending information next week. Remember, it is not a trip but an adventure.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. We praise the Lord for the love that we have been given in Jesus Christ. His love is peaceable and perfect. His love never fails. We have planned for gathering of senior citizens and the retirees for noon tomorrow and for the youth and their leaders tomorrow evening. These meetings are planned around sumptuous meals and warm fellowship. Our men will gather for a prayer breakfast on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Craig Sabin will be sharing his testimony.
The scripture readings for Sunday are taken from Psalm 30, 2 Kings 5, 1 Corinthians 9, and Mark 1: 40 ff. Praise the Lord! We serve an amazing Lord who is the Prince of Peace. The world can lead us into frenzies and deep anxiety. Jesus can and does infuse us with His abiding peace and everlasting joy.
Proverbs 12:25 says that “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” That is a perfect description of what anxiety does to us. It weighs us down so that it’s more difficult to move forward with our lives. People might be worried right now about the future. As companies lay off employees due to tough economic times, people worry that their jobs may be on the line too. There is a lot about the future that we do not know. That is the reason that I like Jeremiah 29:11. It says “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” Though we may not know what the future holds, we know Who holds the future. He loves us, and He has a plan that gives hope for our future. If there was ever a person who had legitimate things to worry about, it was the apostle Paul. According to the first 3 chapters of Philippians, he was a prisoner of the Roman Empire. He was a frequent target for criticism by other preachers, and his ministry was being challenged by false teachers coming into the Philippian church. In spite of all these things, Paul gives several commands to help us overcome anxiety. The first thing he tells us to do is to rejoice in the Lord. The words “joy” and rejoice” occur 13 times in the book of Philippians. Joy is the dominant theme. Paul's life was often more dramatic than a Hollywood script. In fact, if his life was written as a screenplay, it would be found too unbelievable to portray as a biography. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were thrown in jail for preaching the gospel of Christ to the Philippians. They were treated unfairly. They had every reason to grumble and complain. Instead, according to verse 25, they used the time in jail to sing hymns to God with the other prisoners listening. Then, in verse five, we read, "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."
When we get stressed out, sometimes we lash out. We scream irrationally, yell, complain to anyone who will listen (and many who don't). But Paul said that “if you set aside some time to rejoice in the Lord, you should be able to find the time and the patience to be gentle with the people in your life. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." One of the worst effects of being stressed out is that we forget that the Lord is near. We forget that the One person in the Universe who can do something about our anxiety is only a prayer away! That is the reason that Paul gives a third command in verse six, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” It has often been said that God answers prayer in 4 ways: “Yes,” “No,” “Wait,” or “You have to be kidding!” Looking at Philippians 4:7, Paul does not say that when you present your requests to God that you will always receive what you requested. Paul insists that you will get something even better. Verse seven says that when you rejoice in the Lord and when you pray TO the Lord, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Literally, the Greek text says that the peace of God will stand guard over you. The same expression is used in ancient literature to describe a detachment of soldiers sent by the king to guard over a city. God’s peace is like an army protecting us from anxiety. Then, in verse eight Paul writes, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely or admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things." In other words, instead of obsessing about things that stress us out, we should meditate on the things that will help us out, things that are true, noble, and right. First Paul indicates that we should think about are things that are true. We are not to ponder lies and gossip. Nor are we to dwell upon things that may never come true. We are not to spend our time in needless worry. I was reading about a woman who worried for 40 years that she was going to get cancer. Every pain in the stomach was cancer, and she ran to the doctor over every little hurt. She died at age 73 of pneumonia. She had worried for 40 years over the wrong disease! Worry is a waste of time!
In His perfect peace,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9bC9CRv9oU
Hi All,
Larry just called and said that Jennifer does have spinal meningitis but the doctor won't know until tomorrow if it is viral or bacterial. She is in ICU and isolation right now and has been given 2 shots of morphine and another cocktail and is comfortable if she does not move. Viral meningitis is similar to a cold that has gone haywire and is affecting her spinal fluid and brain. Bacterial meningitis is contagious and if she has that they will have to call the Center for Disease Control. I will update you tomorrow when we know more. Thank you for your prayers...I am so appreciative.
Love,
MaryBeth
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